Black Tambourine
The interests (1) of a black man in a cellar
Mark tardy judgment on the world's closed door (2).
Gnats toss in the shadow of a bottle, (3)
And a roach (4) spans (5) a crevice (6) in the floor.
Aesop (7) , driven to pondering (8) , found
Heaven with the tortoise (9) and the bare;
Fox brush (10) and sow (11) ear top his grave
And mingling incantations (12) on the air. (13)
The black man, forlorn in the cellar,
Wanders in some mid-kingdom (14), dark, that lies,
Between his tambourine (15), stuck on the wall,
And, in Africa, a carcass (16) quick with flies. (17)
(1) It literary means something that attracts one’s attention, here, though it
emphasizes on the most primary needs of survival.
(2) Probably it is an image of those written marks which the black man draws with a
tardy (lethargic) manner.
(3) The image of gnats (mosquitoes) flying around a bottle is metaphorically
described as though they are pulling away the shadow of the bottle.
(4) Cockroach.
(5)To extend over and across something.
(6) A narrow crack.
(7) Aesop (620?-560? BC), ancient Greek writer of fables, who is supposed to have
been a freed slave from Thrace. His name became attached to a collection of
beast fables long transmitted through oral tradition. The beast fables are part of
the common culture of the Indo-European peoples and constitute perhaps
the most widely read collection of fables in world literature. (excerpted
from Microsoft digital encyclopedia)
(8) Aesop was lead to think or use his imagination by someone or something else.
(9) Turtle.
(10) Fox tale.
(11) Female hog (pig).
(12) Aesop found mingling incantations on the air.
(13)The characteristics of the animals mentioned in this stanza all refer to the fables
attributed to Aesop, namely: "The Tortoise and the Hare" and "The Fox and the
Grapes."
(14) Mid-kingdom signifies, according to Crane’s explanation, a phase of
development between beast and man. It can also be interpreted as the heaven.
(15)A shallow single-headed drum with jingling metallic disks in its frame held in
one hand and played by shaking it or striking it with the free hand.
(16) Corpse.
(17) Signifies that the flies are quickly flying around the corpse.
Analysis
Having been motivated by his companionship with a Negro at his father’s Cleveland
restaurant, Crane wrote “Black Tambourine”. Thus it can be inferred, both from the
poem itself and the biographical references, that the poem is concerned with the inferior
social stance of the American Negroes at Crane’s time. Apart from any reference from
outside the poem, the presence of Aesop which connotes his background and the fact that
he was an African slave supports the idea.
Nevertheless, regarding the structure of the poem, in the opening stanza, you see the
image of a black man secluded from the society. This idea is supported by the word
“cellar”, and the expression “the world’s closed door”. So it could be concluded that his
world (cellar) differs from that of the outside. This world seems cracked and darkened
according to the word “crevice”, and “shadow”, and the color of the “roach”. It is
lethargic and lifeless, due to the word “tardy” and the tedious movement of the “roach”
that “spans a crevice in the floor”, and also the “gnats” which “toss in the shadow of a
bottle” buzzing around it.
The fact that the “interests” (referring to the unsophisticated and primitive needs of a
being) of this “black man”, “mark tardy judgments on the world’s closed door”, indicates
his needs and thoughts are greatly distant from the outside world.
The poem, in the second stanza, unexpectedly brings up the name of a legendary fable
writer, Aesop, who happened to be a slave in his time. It seems to be referred that from
all the heaven Aesop had been forced to imagine and create, considering that he was
“driven to pondering” which shows that he was imposed to ponder the world of his
imaginary heaven of fables, only “the tortoise”, “fox brush”, and a “sow ear” are left on
top of his grave. And the presence of those “mingling incantations on the air” heightens
the mysterious aspect of his fables and what is remained of him.
In the third stanza, we are driven back to that lonely atmosphere of the black man who is
“forlorn in the cellar” and “wanders in his mid-kingdom”. According to Crane’s own
explanation, this “mid-kingdom” is a realm between the developments of a beast into
humankind. The black man is confined in this mid-kingdom and unable to develop
further and adapt himself to the outer world, he is just capable of wandering around his
secluded and “dark” cellar.
The two final lines of the poem are as follows:
Between his tambourine, stuck on the wall,
And, in Africa, a carcass quick with flies.
The tambourine which is a musical instrument signifies elevated-ness and delicacy of
humankind and his needs (particularly the need of art). On the other hand, a “carcass”
surrounded by flies somewhere in Africa represents the idea of primitiveness and
roughness, or undeveloped aspects of human nature.
The black man’s tambourine is stuck on the wall or, in other words, left unused which
indicates his lack of developed demands and aspects of humanity. And, on the other
hand, his “mid-kingdom” lies in between that suck tambourine and a carcass which
probably signifies a natural status or the bare face of the nature lacking delicacy and
sophistication. As a result, he is left forlorn unable to approach to either side.
The whole poem is a description of a contemporary black man, or Negro, being compared
to someone with similar condition way back in the history, Aesop. Even though Aesop
was an African slave at his time, there are remnants left of his world and imagination, on
the contrary; the black man, stuck between his nativity and development of humanity,
has a worse situation since he is not even able to play his instrument, and produce
something out of artistry of his own imagination.
Nasser Tahmasbi